At the starting block

Sunday’s the big day when we turn our shivering backs on the north and gladly opt for two 12-hour days in the car.

Post Christmas Epiphanies

1. Who needs a Roomba robot vacuum to deal with the steady rain of dropped food from the grandchildren when you have a tiny dog snuffling across the floor.
2. It sharpens aging reflexes to have kids exploding from closets and behind furniture during ongoing three-day games of hide and seek.
3. Your trash is your friend. No one benefits from finishing up the leftover garlic bread.
4. Latkes (multicultural here) perfectly represent Hanukkah’s eight-day miracle since the smell of the oil they’re cooked in stays in the house for about that length of time.
5. Follow up behind your departing guests as they gather their belongings if you want to avoid an emergency trip to the post office to overnight missing car keys.
6. Dim the lights and fake a clean house before the holiday since after everyone leaves you’ll be getting out the industrial vac and that big new bottle of PineSol.

It's Almost Here

The second refrigerator is humming in the basement, the holiday cookies have been pulled from their hiding place, and the dog is looking nervous.

Night Maneuvers

     One thing you don’t usually learn about being a parent until it’s too late is the amount of time you’ll spend in the dark.

Keeping a grip on that holiday spirit

Today found me at CVS looking for a Christmas card for my fella.

A slippery slope

7:30 a.m. and Mamie and I donned our morning ensembles: jacket, hat, scarf, gloves, boots for me and parka for her.  We crunched outside across the deck to the back yard.

Last week in review

     We were madcap social butterflies last week.

From cats to dogs

 Never mind that the Chinese calendar says this is the Year of the Monkey.